Naruto Unleashed: Series 4 Part 2

Introduction

The moment I've been dreading has arrived. The dreaded filler approaches. Naruto is a popular anime based on an even more popular manga, and what charmed many fans was seeing that same story brought to life on the small screen. The problem is that the strict demands of a television schedule, producing an episode each week and every week, is all a world away from the comparative ease of producing a manga strip, where the only pressure comes from your agent and your publisher. And so it was that Naruto's television series caught up to the manga being produced. The common sense thing to do would be to take the show off the air until there was some more story to adapt, but that is a bad idea in the world of bottom lines, audience figures and ratings. The answer was filler, in house episodes that featured the main characters, but did absolutely nothing with them lest they conflict with the eventual manga releases. The prevailing opinion is that the filler episodes of Naruto are mostly disappointing, and in the end, when there was enough new manga to adapt en masse, a firm line was drawn under Naruto, and the story jumped forward in time to Naruto: Shippuden. In the UK releases, volume 4:2 is where the filler material first appears. Let's see just how deep my heart sinks. Fortunately there is still some adapted story to get through first.


12 years previously, the Hidden Leaf village was plagued by the Nine-Tailed fox demon. The Fourth Hokage ninja sacrificed his life to defeat the menace, and sealed up the spirit in the body of a newborn child. That orphan grew up as Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous prankster with great ambition. Not only does he want to be a ninja, but he also wants to be the strongest ninja of them all and be granted the title Hokage. He has more than a little competition, the Hidden Leaf village is a community of ninja, and Naruto had great difficulty just passing his entrance exams to qualify as a lowly Genin. Even when he did manage to get his certification, he was assigned to undergo training by the demanding Kakashi, partnered with his rival Sasuke and Sakura, the girl on whom he has a crush. What makes things difficult is that few see him as Naruto, instead of the dreadful fox demon that was sealed inside him.


I'm assuming that you have seen volume 4:1 by now. If you haven't, then don't be surprised by the SPOILERS that follow. The Chunin arc concluded with the tragic death of the third Hokage, as he defended the village against the power hungry Orochimaru. With his sacrifice, he dealt a crippling blow to the rogue Sannin ninja, and with his jutsu powers sealed, his arms paralysed, Orochimaru was forced to flee. Meanwhile the Akatsuki group had learnt of Naruto's power and his harbouring of the Nine-Tailed-Fox spirit, and they sent two of their number to obtain that power. It turned out that one of them was Sasuke's estranged brother Itachi, and we finally learnt of the dread past that has set Sasuke on the path to vengeance, and the confrontation between the two was explosive and damaging to say the least. Itachi is a seriously powerful ninja, rogue though he is, and he left both Sasuke and Kakashi in a coma. At the same time, Jiraiya, the pervy sage Sannin who is now in charge of Naruto's training, had become aware of this and decided to take his charge out of danger. They conveniently have a new mission, to find the third and final Sannin and offer her the position of Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. It's just that Tsunade isn't in a position to lead anything. She was a skilled medical ninja, but tragedy in her life has left her relying on drink and gambling, and she spends her time wandering the land, racking up a large debt. As Jiraiya searched for her, he began teaching Naruto the Rasengan, a powerful technique that only he knows, and that only the fourth Hokage before had mastered. But they weren't the only ones looking for Tsunade, as Orochimaru has just one chance to restore his strength and take his revenge on the Hidden Leaf Village. He needs Tsunade to heal his damaged arms. It's a three-way collision when they meet. Naruto made a bet with Tsunade, that if he finally managed to master the Rasengan, then she take him seriously. Yet Orochimaru promised that if she healed him, he would resurrect the two people she cared for most, and whose loss has left her fearful and in hiding. As we begin this set, Tsunade has a choice to make. There, all caught up now.

The final thirteen episodes of the fourth season are presented here across three discs.


Disc 1
92. A Dubious Offer! Tsunade's Choice
93. Breakdown! The Deal Is Off
94. Attack! Fury Of The Rasengan
95. The Fifth Hokage! A Life On The Line!

Disc 2
96. Deadlock! Sannin Showdown!
97. Kidnapped! Naruto's Hot Spring Adventure
98. Tsunade's Warning: Ninja No More!
99. The Will Of Fire Still Burns!
100. Sensei and Student: The Bond Of The Shinobi

Disc 3
101. Gotta See! Gotta Know! Kakashi Sensei's True Face!
102. Mission: Help An Old Friend In The Land Of Tea!
103. The Race Is On! Trouble On The High Seas!
104. Run Idate Run! Nagi Island Awaits!

Picture

Naruto gets a 4:3 regular transfer that is clear and sharp throughout. There are some minor compression artefacts that are only really noticeable during freeze frame. As you would expect from such a long running animation, it's best not to tire the animators out too early. Naruto is certainly less sophisticated than most anime released today, the character designs are simpler, and backgrounds not excessively defined. Yet in terms of quality, the animation is very effective, and certainly goes a step beyond older long running shows like Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon.

Sound

The DD 2.0 English and Japanese stereo is more than adequate in recreating the original experience, and given a little Prologic magic does offer a pleasant ambience and some discrete action. The end of the season offers some new theme tunes, and as always they are memorable and suit the story well, while the incidental music is a little more generic, but definitely gives Naruto its own musical identity. I sampled the English dub and found it acceptable if unspectacular. It certainly isn't the worst I have heard, but some of the actors don't seem particularly suited to the characters. Translated subtitles are provided, as they should be.

Extras

Menus. Same. Again. The trailers include Origin, Buso Renkin, Death Note, Bleach, Naruto, Naruto the Movie, Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Ghost In The Shell: Solid State Society. There is also an ad for Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm on the PS3.

Conclusion

Okay, you got me; technically it's not filler, as everything on these discs is based on the manga storyline. However, the second half of season 4 does offer both the best and the worst of Naruto, even if the anime creators aren't frantically making up stories to fill a schedule just yet.


The best of Naruto is in the overreaching storylines, the character development, and the twists and turns the tale takes along its way of the ninja. The first half of this set is just that, with Lady Tsunade having to find her inner strength, and take the next step in becoming Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. Naruto masters a new ninja skill, and we learn more about the legendary Sannin. Add to that more of Orochimaru's machinating, and finally getting to learn about the traitorous Kabuto, plenty of combat, and a three-way Sannin confrontation that sees the summoning of three giant beasts, snake, toad and in Tsunade's case, slug, and it's almost everything that you would want from the series. The only drawback is that Sakura's back in the village alongside Sasuke who's in a coma. I was beginning to miss the byplay that the three main characters have.


Anyway, Tsunade makes the inevitable decision, with the help of Naruto's example and encouragement, and accepts the position of Hokage, and they head on home to the Hidden Leaf Village. Except they don't, instead taking an episode's diversion to the Land Of Tea to partake of some hot springs. So while Jiraiya tries to find a communal bath with nubile young females to share with, Naruto has a little run around with some debt collectors who are looking for Tsunade. It's the first breather that we've really had since the start of the Chunin arc over 40 odd episodes ago, and it is welcome, although the broad comedy is a bit a jarring change. We're back to reality as they get back to the village in the next episodes, and Tsunade prepares to assume the mantle of Hokage. Her healer skills are put to immediate use and she revives Sasuke and Kakashi, although her prognosis for Rock Lee isn't quite so promising. It's all change for the Hidden Leaf Village, and it's one that Konohamaru isn't ready for; he's still grieving for his grandfather. So an episode of reflection and thought isn't amiss here, even though it feels that the bigger story has been put on pause.


The next two episodes are where it really feels that the show is spinning its wheels, as we follow Rock Lee on his introspective depression, as he laments the loss of his dreams. It's flashback hell, as we learn of his past with his sensei Guy, and of course it's up to Guy to give his prodigy new hope. At this point, I'm praying for something decent, but actually we have to hit rock bottom before we start climbing out of the trench of mediocrity. The worst Naruto episode yet strikes, as the three Genin decide to find out what lies beneath their sensei Kakashi's mask. Forget the fact that over the last two seasons and more, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura have been through hell, forget that Sasuke has been cursed by Orochimaru, just fought his brother, been sent into a coma, and brought back from the brink of death by Tsunade, forget the tension that now exists between the three, no we're back to season 1 pranks, childish nonsense as they try to find what Kakashi's true face looks like. It wouldn't be too bad, but this episode is repetitive, tiresome, tedious drivel that doesn't play at all well.


We're back to the main story in the last three episodes of the set, but by now the damage has been done. The pace, tension, suspense and energy of the story has been lost like air from a deflating whoopee cushion, and it feels like we're starting from scratch again. Also, at first glance it does feel like we're back to the earlier seasons, as the mission initially doesn't feel connected to the main story. They may not have Kakashi with them, but it does feel like we're following the Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura of the Zabuza arc, and it's really only near the end of the set do we see some sign of the tension that has developed between the three. The reason for the hot springs diversion becomes clear as we return to the Land of Tea. Tsunade's old friend is the head of a local gang, one of two that regularly compete for dominance over the region. Eschewing bloodshed, the competition is decided by a foot race, although both sides are free to do whatever it takes to win, including inviting ninja to take part on their behalf. The good guys' are the perennial loser underdogs of course, while the current bosses are abusing their position like there's no tomorrow. Idate Morino is the good guys' entrant into the race, and to protect their investment, they hire Naruto's team to act as his bodyguards during the competition. Except Idate isn't to keen on being protected by ninja. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that he has a past with the Hidden Leaf Village, and despite their initial antagonism, he and Naruto have a lot in common. Meanwhile, his opponents have also hired ninja to ensure their victory, and it turns out that they are the same Rain ninja that Naruto's team defeated early on in the Chunin exam.


We end on a cliffhanger as usual, but it's worth watching the opening credits for the final episode in this set. It's when the themes change as usual, but the latest opening animation gives some indication of where the story is heading, and there will be a dramatic turn before the filler proper kicks in. Volume 4:2 of Naruto is still essential for fans of the story, but there's an early sign of things to come with the Kakashi's mask agony.